We give up perspective to avoid tone controls

My Jadis Orchestra Reference integrated is one of the few high-end audio components you’ll find with tone controls. I’ve owned and been around a lot of amplifiers, and this one moves me in a way few others can. I happen to love the tone controls.
I know as purists, we avoid tone controls. We’re just smarter, more evolved, and just plain better than that. We use phono cartridges, CD players / DACs, pre / power amplifiers, cables, power conditioners, tubes, coupling capacitors, room treatment, isolation devices, contact enhancers, fuses, and all manner of other tweaks to dial in the sound to produce more bass, tone down the bass, liven things up, calm things down, etc., but PLEASE don’t ever calls these things tone controls

There's the MiniDSP DDRC series that does that. They have a version with digital inputs/outputs (which I use since I don't have any analog components and don't plan to purchase any) and one with analog inputs/outputs (balanced XLR).  

Yep, I am aware. My problems with that solution are

A) I don't want to pay for Dirac just to play with it
B) I like USB sources
C) I'm using Squeezelite as my virtual Squeezebox touch. 
D) My music server is Linux

So ideally, I'd like to have any EQ/time altering to happen in real time on my Linux box. There are many threads about using EQ in general with Squeezelite, but they are old and many of those links don't even work anymore. 

Best,

E

 To me it is simple. The best we can do is try and put the band in the room with us. Whether you live in a closet or Carnegie Hall, To try and make your closet not sound like a closet I suppose is reasonable enough but intentionally adding color to the signal when you have spent all that money to keep it pure is a contradiction to the purist in me. And yes I am that guy who thinks opinion has nothing to do with it. Whatever the component the one that best replicates the band standing there wins, like it or not.
 To color the sound in a way that for the moment is pleasing but not accurate will over time give you less pleasure as your brain knows better than you what is real and those beautiful moments when you are sitting in front of your speakers and your jaw drops will begin to diminish. Stay away from the signal path. There should be a law!
 My first post! Hello all!

@erik_squires 

You could try RoomEQ Wizard, it’s free software and there’s a Linux version.  It’s not automatic like Dirac, but it will let you do a lot of tweaking.  

I'm new to this forum and to digital music. I'm not a purist, I just like listening to what sounds like good music (to me).  I've been buying and selling analog 2-channel equipment since 1968.  My first "quality" equalizer, which I still use is a Soundcraftsman SP4001 equalizer/pre-amp paired with a Pioneer SPEC-4 and a pair of original Bose 901s. I know many folks on this forum scoff at equipment like this, but I've had it since the mid 80's and it sounds good to me. 

Fast forward to the early 2000's, I got an incredible deal on a McIntosh 31V ( has an equalizer), MC2600, MCD7008 CDP, and Tuner paired with a pair of DCM TimeWindow 3 speakers.  I love being able to tweak music, especially some vinyl albums using the Mac equalizer.  

I decided to jump into digital music and recently purchased a NAD M12 w/ BluOS module and M22 v2, paired with a pair of Tannoy 8 dcti speakers for my new listening room.  The sound is quite different than my analog gear.  Some differences are good and some are not so good.  When streaming Tidal, sometimes the highs are too bright and transitions too loud.  I don't get quite that same dramatic effect out of the Pioneer or Mac amps.  The NAD gear is less than a month old - I'm hoping the sounds smooths out a bit more in time.

Overall, I'm satisfied with my purchase.  Of course, the music is much more detailed with a wider sound stage.  And most Tidal jazz masters sound awesome.  Old school vocal masters sound good, but not as good as the jazz.   

The M12 has treble and bass tone controls, which I don't use - yet, but I sure miss my Mac equalizer - especially, when listing to old school vinyl albums and streaming them from Tidal or my NAS.